[2.0 updated] Shmizz's hardcore perma-freeze guide

Good idea with the div card in chamber of sins, except...
I rushed there at lvl39 farmed until lvl48 (lvl46 zone) and got 0 dark mage cards :(

"

Auxion wrote:

Good idea with the div card in chamber of sins, except...
I rushed there at lvl39 farmed until lvl48 (lvl46 zone) and got 0 dark mage cards :(

yeah they nerfed the crap out of the drop rates on all divination cards to the point where it's not even worth it to farm any of them. I suppose I should remove that from the guide to not give people false hope.

What is the best way to be able to cast 2 curses? What are the alternatives?

"

ilstefano wrote:

What is the best way to be able to cast 2 curses? What are the alternatives?

You can use 1 or 2 doedre's unique rings to get +1 curse each.
you can spec into the curse nodes near the top of the skill tree for 5 extra points but you do get a bunch of curse effectiveness.
you can corrupt +1 curse on any amulet with a vaal orb.
there is also a unique jewel that gives you +1 curse if you have +70 intellect allocated in the area. If you put the unique jewel in the slot right above Elemental equilibrium there is already 70 int allocated there so it doesn't even cost you an extra skill point.

corrupting or buying a corrupt amulet is probably the best since the only downside is the loss of implicit stats on an amulet (most likely +30 dex) which you can easily make up for on other pieces of gear

Hey guys!

I have a question, and I'm sorry if it has been answered already. I just didn't want to have to read through 18 pages.

I'm sort of confused about rain of splinters. I understand that it gives 2 projectiles, but the amount of damage you lose is immense. LMP is around 20-25% dmg loss correct? Rain of splinters is (on average) 40%. You also lose so much from spell totem that I just don't understand the choice.

I know the lowest a RoS can go is 30%, but that's worth about 15c and I definitely don't have that.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Thank you!

CircA

"

CircAGG wrote:

Hey guys!

I have a question, and I'm sorry if it has been answered already. I just didn't want to have to read through 18 pages.

I'm sort of confused about rain of splinters. I understand that it gives 2 projectiles, but the amount of damage you lose is immense. LMP is around 20-25% dmg loss correct? Rain of splinters is (on average) 40%. You also lose so much from spell totem that I just don't understand the choice.

I know the lowest a RoS can go is 30%, but that's worth about 15c and I definitely don't have that.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Thank you!

CircA

There's a huge difference between dealing LESS damage and dealing REDUCED damage. If you want to know the exact details, I would recommend checking out this thread.
and this page for explanations about just about anything in the game
In short, rain of splinters causes you to deal REDUCED damage which is easily cancelled out by one or two passive points in the skill tree. Lesser multiple projectiles and spell totem cause you to deal LESS damage which acts as a multiplier and has a much more significant impact. Rain of splinters has close to zero impact overall since the downside can be easily countered.

The reason that I still choose to use spell totem despite its relatively large downside is that you can have two totems casting at once rather than just one player, so just for the sake of example let's say spell totem causes you to deal 30% LESS damage. With a single totem you are dealing 70% of your original damage, but with two totems you are still dealing 140% of your original damage, thus the penalty is not as steep as you would imagine.

which staff would you prefer??
+1gem,+2 cold gem, mana regen, fire resist or
+2 cold gem, spell dmg, cast speed and spell crit?

"

fong159 wrote:

which staff would you prefer??
+1gem,+2 cold gem, mana regen, fire resist or
+2 cold gem, spell dmg, cast speed and spell crit?

it depends on the rolls, but in general the +3 is more valuable

"

ilstefano wrote:

What is the best way to be able to cast 2 curses? What are the alternatives?

windscream is a great option too!

+(10 to 15)% to all Elemental Resistances
10% increased Movement Speed
10% increased Elemental Damage
Enemies can have 1 additional Curse

Thanks for the clarification on Rain of Splinters! I have another question.

He talks about the quality of freezing pulse for the 5-link, and I definitely do not think I will get a 6L anytime soon so I think this is extremely important for me.

I have a 9% quality FP, do you think that is high enough to use faster casting or should I use faster projectiles?

Thanks!

CircA